Vale Moçambique SA has suspended shipments of coal by rail along the Sena line after a train was attacked on Monday in the Inhamitanga area, central Mozambique, the subsidiary of the Brazilian group said in a statement.

The statement did not mention a deadline for operations on the Sena line to resume.

The attack came nearly a month after the mining company had resumed coal transport along the Sena line, between Moatize and Beira, after a two-week stoppage because of a lack of security in that section of the line.

State rail and port manager Portos e Caminhos de Ferro de Mozambique (CFM), responsible for the line and area for coal processing, lost revenues from 68 Vale Moçambique cargo trains in the two weeks of downtime.

The ambassador of Brazil in Mozambique, Rodrigo Baena Soares said he was following the progress of this incident and expressed “confidence in Mozambican institutions so that the route can be travelled safely.”

The diplomat recalled that Brazilian interests in Mozambique “involve investments of billions of dollars” in sectors such as mining, construction, beverages, communications and agriculture, and the country is also the biggest beneficiary of Brazilian aid worldwide. (macauhub/BR/MZ)